My final for Graphic Design was a zine about whatever we chose, and I picked an adaptation of my favorite poem, Start Here by Caitlyn Siehl.
It’s a gut-wrenching poem about being the mother of a Chosen One — think the Virgin Mary or Lily Potter — and knowing your child is going to die for the greater good.
Imagery I’m proud of:
[pg1] The burning bush (Exodus 3) and God’s eye taped haphazardly over it, looking towards home;
[pg2] Joan of Arc, the classic doomed heroine, eyes fixed on heaven through the explosion behind her;
[pg3] Sexual assault and loss of innocence. A flame held over an angel’s genitals, condoms and zippers, fruit going from ripe to rotten, a statue with an ‘on sale’ tag being scrubbed clean, and Lucifer falling from heaven;
[pg4] Mother as God. The world in the palm of her hands, eyes watching the galaxy, trying to keep something in cupped hands you cannot have, stars in place of a nametag;
[pg8] Mary illuminated by a bloodred clock instead of a halo, as she holds her child who was doomed to die from birth, sitting inside a tarot card proclaiming him her world.
I could talk about this piece for ages.
CJ Designs 